Chili Festival to take place this weekend

Thursday

The defending champion of the Havelock Chili Festival has a lot of competition when he returns for this weekend’s event.

The defending champion of the Havelock Chili Festival has a lot of competition when he returns for this weekend’s event.

But three-time red chili champ David Lorenz will have an equally tough challenge two weeks later when he appears on the Travel Channel’s World Food Championship in Las Vegas.

Lorenz, a New Jersey native who has been competing in Havelock for years, said he wasn’t expecting to be called to participate in the four-day TV competition. He’ll be competing in the chili category, one of seven food divisions at the event.

“I was very surprised. I’m looking forward to it and excited about competing there, and it will be a whole change from what I’m used to,” he said. “The judging is going to be different. The setup is going to be different. It will be a cumulative score over three days.

“I feel good about chili, but I don’t know how you can compare and compete a bowl of chili against a dessert or even barbecue for that matter, but I feel very good about the chili portion of the event.”

For organizers of the 31st annual Havelock Chili Festival, the appearance of the event’s 2011 winner on national television is another aspect of the festival of which to be proud.

“This is a great thing for little old Havelock,” said Stephanie Duncan, executive director of the Havelock Chamber of Commerce that puts on the festival. “We want him to win to make us proud. We know he’s from Jersey, but he’s a North Carolinian at heart.”

This year’s festival gets started with the chicken wings and green chili competition from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday at Walter B. Jones Park. Duncan said 10,000 chicken wings have been ordered, up 7,500 last year. The evening’s featured entertainment will be the band Cold Biscuit, playing a variety of popular rock, beach and country.

Saturday features the red chili and salsa competition from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with 19 cooks scheduled to square off to be named the state’s best chili cook.

Duncan said the arrangement of cooks and vendors on the festival grounds would be different this year.

“It will be a totally new festival look this year because we’ve grown so much, we’ve had to redesign,” Duncan said.

She said the stage has been shifted away from West Main Street and toward the old senior center building.

She said the changes had nothing to do with last year’s incident in which Marine rescue helicopter Pedro flew over the festival grounds, the wind of which sent tents and merchandise flying through the area. Four people were injured.

Pedro will be back at this year’s festival, but it will be parked farther away near where an old military housing area used to exist.

Saturday’s featured entertainment is the Tone Peddlers.

Beyond the entertainment, exhibits include a tricked out motorcycle from Nationwide Insurance, radio controlled planes from GBI Hobbies, boats from Bay Racer, cars from Freedom Ford and fire equipment from the Havelock Fire Department.

Plenty of vendors will have a variety of items for sale, including candles, purses, T-shirts and collectibles.

“You name it, there’s something for everyone,” Duncan said.

For those who may not enjoy chili, the festival includes other food vendors selling funnel cake, snow cones, hot dogs, brats, fried Oreos, fried Twinkies, fried pickles and limpia.

An alternative entertainment area for miscellaneous performers is also new this year. Attendance is free. Small sample cups of chili are sold for $1 each.

The festival is the chamber’s largest fund raiser of the year and supports local programs such as Craven Smart Start, the Craven-Cherry Point Child Development Center, Annunciation School, the Havelock High School Band Boosters, Cherry Point Young Marines, Girl Scouts Rainbow Unit and the Boys and Girls Club.

“We’re planning on taking care of everyone. We’re hoping for the best weather,” Duncan said. “It’s going to be a perfect 68 degrees so people will want chili but they won’t have to bundle up. And I need all the pastors in the area to include that in their sermons.”

The early forecast from the National Weather Service for Friday night shows a 30 percent chance of showers and a low of 61, with sunny skies on Saturday and a high temperature of 73.

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